They are science priests. As such, people value the remarkably reliable information they get from them.

As such, people immediately trust the information they get from them, whether it's reliable or not.

Science is a process, not an end - treating current theory as the final truth (to the extent that science priests even relay current theory rather than just provide fun accessible notions for entertainment purposes) is a fool's errand.

How many people have learned about Shannon's information theory from their deep understanding of Hawking radiation, thanks to Hawking appearing on Big Bang Theory?

There's a huge divide between actually having any understanding of science and science-worship, and science-worship actively detracts from understanding science.